1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method, and more particularly, to an inkjet recording apparatus and an inkjet recording method which are capable of recording an image (including text characters, and the like) onto both the front and rear surfaces of a recording medium. In the present specification, of the recording surfaces of a recording medium having two surfaces, the surface on which recording is carried out initially is called the “front surface” and the surface on the rear side with respect to this is called the “rear surface”.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an inkjet recording apparatus having a double-side recording function, generally, an image is recorded on the front surface of a recording medium, whereupon the recording medium is inverted automatically and an image is then recorded on the rear surface of the recording medium.
In cases where images are recorded onto both surfaces of a recording medium by inverting the recording medium in this way, if recording onto the rear surface is started while the ink droplets ejected onto the front surface have not yet dried completely, then problems may arise in that the ink droplets ejected onto the front surface are transferred to the conveyance surface, the conveyance surface becomes soiled, the ink is rubbed by the conveyance surface, and the image quality declines.
Consequently, when performing double-side recording in an inkjet recording apparatus, a waiting time is provided after completing recording onto the front surface, in such a manner that recording onto the rear surface is started after the ink on the front surface has dried sufficiently.
Therefore, in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus, an appropriate waiting time is set, by altering the waiting time in accordance with the type of recording paper (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-134982) or by altering the waiting time in accordance with the volume of ink droplets ejected onto the front surface (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-125750).
In this way, by providing a waiting time after completing recording onto the front surface, it is possible to prevent soiling of the conveyance surface and deterioration of image quality, but it is not possible to resolve the following problems simply by setting a waiting time in this way. More specifically, if a waiting time is provided after completion of recording onto the front surface, the solvent component of the ink droplets ejected onto the front surface permeates into the recording medium and thereby local distortion of the medium occurs. If an image is then recorded onto the rear surface of a recording medium in which local distortions have occurred in this way, the shape of the ink is disrupted from a perfect circular shape in the portions where the distortion has occurred, and therefore the image is degraded.